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From the Syrian border to the Hollywood Hills: How one rose is starting a global conversation on peace

When New Zealand photographer Stuart Robertson left his career behind four years ago in pursuit of a global peace project, many thought his vision was ridiculous.

With no photography experience, and no camera, Robertson was propelled by the idea of capturing an “unguarded portrait of humanity” - a single, silk, white rose in the hands of 10,000 people from every country in the world.

Despite initially being rejected on the streets of New York, his project, Peace in 10,000 Hands, has gone on to weave a conversation about peace from the flattened Turkish border town of Cizre to the Hollywood Hills.

"You never in your wildest dreams imagine doing yoga with Demi Moore, or hanging out with the Dalai Lama, or being at a party in Hollywood with Mickey Rourke, or sitting on the Syrian border, or going into Iraq and becoming a smuggler,” Robertson told 9news.com.au.

Demi Moore. (Stuart Robertson)Soweto style. (Stuart Robertson)

Robertson has photographed the likes of Ricky Gervais, Demi Moore, Jamie Lee Curtis and Danny DeVito and plans to raise $100 million for children's charities globally through the sale and donation of his portraits, some which sell for as much as $30,000.

While celebrity helps push the project forward, Robertson’s mission is "to get under the skin of the earth”.

“I don’t think I can say 'I’m taking my camera to Sydney, London, Tokyo and New York and here’s a global conversation on peace for you’.”

The rose, an ancient symbol of peace, has travelled far, floating between the hands of religious figures, gang members and grieving mothers.

“It’s the same rose that the Dalai Lama held and blessed, and archbishop Desmond Tutu.

“I’ve photographed people that have since died, people that have been murdered, I’ve photographed murderers, I’ve photographed a woman who watched her child be cremated in front of her on a school bus that was t-boned by a large truck in America, and she put her daughter’s ashes on the white rose.”

Danny DeVito. (Stuart Robertson)

At the back end of a year categorised by political upheaval and bloodshed, Robertson believes peace is something the world needs now, more than ever before.

“When I started the project four years ago, there was no ISIS, there were no bombings, [the] Lindt [café siege] hadn’t happened in Sydney... and then chaos,” he said.

“People now say ‘Peace project? That’s exactly what the world needs!’ but honestly, four years ago, people thought it was ridiculous.

“When I say the world has never needed peace like it needs it now - I mean everything, the planet is in a very distressed state.”

His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama. (Stuart Robertson)

With an estimated six to seven years left of photographing before he captures the final portrait, Robertson’s plans for Peace in 10,000 Hands don’t finish on earth - he says he dreams of catapulting the project into space.

“I’ve been speaking to scientists at NASA and I really want to get a hard drive at the end of it and put all 10,000 images in high resolution into a deep space probe and send it out there in a time capsule, one for 500 years and one for 1000 years to then be opened up,” he said.

“I believe the most powerful thing in the world is not a man, a woman, a bomb, or a country, but the most powerful thing in the world is an idea, and my idea is Peace in 10,000 Hands.”

Peace in 10,000 Hands is now on display at the flagship Leica Sydney store in the Queen Victoria Building.